FINAL: Crew 2, Revolution 1

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution fell, 2-1, against the Columbus Crew on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium. A.J. Soares’ 50th-minute goal brought the Revs’ level after Columbus scored the first goal just before halftime, but Ethan Finley’s game-winning goal in the 84th-minute sealed the win for the visiting Crew.

With 12 shots – including seven on target – New England (7-11-2, 23 pts.) was unable to break down Columbus’ (6-7-8, 26 pts.) defense, despite tying a club record with 15 corner kicks.

The Revolution returns to action on Wednesday, July 30, as they take on the Colorado Rapids at Gillette Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. The match will be televised by Comcast SportsNet New England while 98.5 The Sports Hub will have the call on the radio.

Key Plays

11’ – NE’s Teal Bunbury skips past a few challenges and powers the ball towards goal, but CLB goalkeeepr Steve Clark tips it over the bar | WATCH THE PLAY

23’ – NE’s Lee Nguyen plays in Diego Fagundez on the left side of the penalty area, but his shot is straight into the arms of Steve Clark | WATCH THE PLAY

30’ – CLB’s Chad Barson crosses for Bernardo Anor, but his header flashes just wide of the far post | WATCH THE PLAY

39’ – NE’s Diego Fagundez cuts inside on his right foot and shoots just wide of the left hand post | WATCH THE PLAY

40’ – CLB’s Federico Higuain finds space in the Revolution area, but his volleyed attempt is pushed out for a corner kick by Bobby Shuttleworth | WATCH THE PLAY

43’ – CLB GOAL: Federico Higuain fires a curling free kick from just outside the area that beats Bobby Shuttleworth high and to his left | WATCH THE PLAY

HALFTIME SCORE: Columbus Crew 1, New England Revolution 0

50’ – NE’s Kelyn Rowe breaks into the area down the left but his shot is tapped by the boot of Steve Clark and the ball trickled just wide of the post | WATCH THE PLAY

50’ – NE GOAL: NE’s A.J. Soares rises to meet Kelyn Rowe’s corner kick at the near post and flicks a header past Steve Clark for the equalizer | WATCH THE PLAY

52’ – YELLOW CARD: NE’s Scott Caldwell shown a yellow card

56’ – CLB’s Wil Trapp releases Ethan Finlay into the area but his near-post strike rattles off the post | WATCH THE PLAY

62’ – NE’s Lee Nguyen plays a one-two with Patrick Mullins but can only curl his effort wide of the post | WATCH THE PLAY

63’ – NE’s Lee Nguyen finds space on the left side of the area and shoots into the arms of Steve Clark, who drops it and beats Kelyn Rowe to the loose ball and and finally punch it to safety | WATCH THE PLAY

65’ – CLB’s Chad Barson finds the ball at his feet after a goalmouth scramble, but his back-heel attempt is cleared off the line by Lee Nguyen

70’ – NE’s Lee Nguyen flicks the ball through for a streaking Kelyn Rowe, but his attempt is saved by Steve Clark | WATCH THE PLAY

74’ – Off a corner kick, CLB’s Tony Tchani powers a header on frame but Diego Fagundez is in position to clear the ball off the line and out for a corner kick

74’ – Off the following corner kick, CLB’s Bernardo Anor puts a header on goal from the ensuing corner but it is again cleared off the line by Diego Fagundez

D A.J. Soares – scored the equalizing goal in the 50th minute with his second goal of the year

Next Game

The Revolution next host the Colorado Rapids at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday, July 30, in the teams’ only meeting this season. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

TV: Comcast SportsNet New England

Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub

Additional Game Notes

With the loss, the Revs saw their overall record drop to 7-11-2 (23 points) on the season

The loss dropped the Revs’ all-time record against Columbus to 20-30-11 … at home, New England is now 12-14-5, including a 7-9-4 mark at Gillette Stadium

The defeat was the team’s eighth straight, marking the club’s longest losing streak in the post-shootout era in MLS (2000-present) … overall, the Revs’ longest losing streak in club history is nine games (twice, 1997 and 1998), including shootout losses in the first three years of MLS

The Revs have not won a regular-season game since beating D.C. United on May 24

A.J. Soares’ 50th-minute goal was his second of the 2014 season … Soares’ goal was the sixth goal of his career

All of A.J. Soares’ goals have been headed goals off set pieces … today’s goal was the second time he headed in a Kelyn Rowe service (one free kick, one corner kick) … his other four goals are headers off of Chris Tierney’s services (three free kicks, one corner kick)

With his goal today, A.J. Soares has now scored two goals against Columbus in his career … the first came on October 19, 2013

Kelyn Rowe’s assist was his second of the season and his first since June 28 against the Philadelphia Union … Rowe’s assist was his second career assist against Columbus

Diego Fagundez, Kelyn Rowe and Patrick Mullins all got the start tonight after appearing as subs in last week’s game against FC Dallas

Tonight’s starting lineup featured the familiar center back pairing of Jose Goncalves and A.J. Soares after both missed last weeks’ game against FC Dallas … Soares returned after serving a one game suspension … Goncalves returned to the lineup and wore the captains armband after recovering from hamstring tightness

Dimitry Imbongo made his second appearance of the season replacing Patrick Mullins at forward in the 67th minute … Imbongo’s last appearance for the Revs came on March 22 against Vancouver, when he entered the game as a second half substitute

Daigo Kobayashi made his fifth substitute appearance of the season replacing Teal Bunbury in the 81st minute

The Revolution fell to 1-11-1 when allowing the first goal this season … in each of the team’s last eight losses, the Revs have allowed the first goal … when the Revs scores the first goal, they are 6-0-0

The Revs’ 15 corner kicks tied a club record, which was achieved twice previously …the Revs also posted 15 corner kicks against NY/NJ Metro Stars on September 9, 2000, and against the San Jose Earthquakes on October 10, 2005.